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  • Correspondence on ‘Influence of COVID-19 pandemic on decisions for the management of people with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases: a survey among EULAR countries’

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Correspondence
Correspondence on ‘Influence of COVID-19 pandemic on decisions for the management of people with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases: a survey among EULAR countries’
  1. Shamma Al Nokhatha1,2,3,
  2. Neil MacEoin3,
  3. Richard Conway3
  1. 1 RCPI, Dublin, Ireland
  2. 2 Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, UAE
  3. 3 Department of Rheumatology, Saint James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
  1. Correspondence to Dr Richard Conway, Rheumatology, Saint James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland; drrichardconway{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-219847

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    We read with interest the article by Dejaco et al recently published in Annals of the Rheumatic Disease on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on decisions on the management of individuals with rheumatic diseases.1 One issue not touched on in this article is attitudes to vaccination, particularly influenza vaccination, in the COVID-19 era. Seasonal influenza infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in selected individuals with altered immune response.2 Influenza vaccination is recommended for the majority of individuals with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases.3

    Previous studies of patients with autoimmune diseases in general and rheumatologic conditions in particular have demonstrated low uptake for influenza vaccine.4 5 The median vaccination coverage rate was 47.1% for 3 seasons in 2015–2018 among older age groups within Europe.5 Various reasons have been suggested for low influenza vaccination uptake, from patient belief that the vaccination is ineffective, perceived financial cost, concerns regarding adverse side effects of vaccination, lack of patient education, to a patient’s own underestimation of their own health risk profile.6–9

    In the current context of the COVID-19 global pandemic, …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors All authors contributed to data collection and approved the final version of the manuscript. SAN wrote the first draft of the manuscript. NME and RC revised the draft for important intellectual content.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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